Portable mast structure



p 1951 H. J. WOOLSLAYER ET AL PORTABLE MAST STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 9, 1946 INVENTOQ filo/75R J. W0oLsL/1X5R,

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HTTORNEKS PORTABLE MAST STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 9, 1946 m 2 mm M m? VSN Nam m- E e l J N NM 5 Z W K w N 0 & N W (N w %m ww QTTORNE Y8.

Patented Sept. 11.1951 3; 3 a

Homer J. wool'sla yi' and" A 'oklakyassigndra by mesfi' ig'ririi 'G. "Moore? florpoi altiorr, Pit't'slifli'gh; Pai', a torp'oration of Pennsylvania" ssniassastutsai- 9, was; waits.- (err-189 15) es-"to oil wlldei'i'iclis or pt' d" to" be mmea 3 I the ground and then swun upwar y uprightpositln where-gt rema ns u'ftildt to trans-15bit the 'strhbtiir to afiothr on;

its aaehg one of this an d a nlast-" st rfiictureof th ""'char ter m p le serves to reinforce the lower faccordan'cewith this invehtion' an upright ast aving front sai ts: legs is mountains 'rh'e 1 wi-ends;or-apair"or the mast ej hiriged to' tlie bas eto-pe'rinitthehiast H y to be betwee lerectfand prone posit-fin tomcat-auto the ase in a manner-that wil l be alongethe ground; For convenience-M Hs'criiidescrib dpreseiitly tiorr only, the legs of the mast that are hinged totii'ebase will'b'ereferred to herein as the front legs. The rear-legs of thernast are substantially the same length as the front legs Mounted on the base behind the mast isagin pole which aids swinging the mast between its twopositions. The gin pole has legs extending along the'lower pfqif 9 1 be.

r' are no and [n as spacing members located at vertically spaced drilling. However, these lower portions of the intervals. Preferably, there are no cross braces 40 back legs are strong enough to support the mast connecting the lower portions of the rear legs during erection while it is not supporting any of the mast, so the gin pole can project between load. The opposite sides of the mast may be those legs. braced from top to bottom. but its front generally The preferred embodiment of the invention is is open and free of bracing members. illustrated in the accompanying drawings in 45 The gin pole preferably is formed from subwhich Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side view of the stantially vertical front legs l6 and inclined rear mast in operative position; Fig. 2 is a horizontal legs I! hinged together at their upper ends at section taken on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1, but l8 so that the front and rear legs can be folded with the mast reclining on the ground; Fig. 3 is together when the mast is down and the gin an enlarged fragmentary side view of connected 50 pole is not in use. The lower ends of the rear mast and gin pole legs; Fig. 4 is a front view of legs of the gin pole are pivotally connected by the legs shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a horiremovable pivot pins 19 to brackets 2| mounted zontal section taken on the line V--V of Fig. 3. on the base. The front legs of the gin pole prefvReferring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the erably are made from angle bars permanently bottom of a vertical oil well derrick or mast I 56 connected to shoes 22 detachably connected to the base by bolts 23. As shown Figs.- 3, 4, and 5, each shoe includes a pair of forwardly pro-' jecting spaced side walls 24 mounted on a hori= zontal plate 25 and provided with aligned openings. Extending through these openings when the mast is erect, is a pin 26 which also extends through registering openings in a bifurcated foot 21 rigidly mounted onthe adjacent rear leg of the mast.

With this arrangement the front legs of the gin pole extend up along the rear portions of the rear legs of the mast. One flange of each pin pole 4 the front legs of the gin pole extending along the lower portions of said rear mast legs in close proximity thereto, the rear legs of the mast being in the form of upright angle bars with their flanges projecting along the rear face and adjoining sides of the mast, the front legs of the gin pole also being in the form of upright angle bars with a pair of their flanges parallel to the rear flanges of the rear mast legs and with the other pair of the front gin pole leg flanges projecting forward between said rear mast legs, and means bolting said adjacent parallel flanges tofront leg is parallel to the rear flange of the adjacent rear leg of the mast, and where there are no interfering cross braces between the rear legs of the mast the other flange of the gin pole leg preferably extends forward between the rear legs of the mast. By locating the major portion of the front legs of the gin pole between the rear legs of the mast in this manner, space is economized. :The adjacentparallel flanges of these legs are fastened together by means of bolts 28. In order to take care of possible irregularities in the legs that would make it difficult to fasten them face .to face, spacing members 29, are placed between the legs at predetermined vertically spaced intervals. The spacing members may be permanently connected to one of the legs and are provided with openings through which the fastening bolts extend. Thus, the lower portions of the rear legs of the mast, even though not ;connected by braces, are reinforced adequately by the front legs of thegin pole fastened to them. Elimination of the lower cross braces effects a material saving, and the reinforcing gin pole legs make' it unnecessary to use extra heavy mast legs that would,. support the mast Without bracing. .With the rear legs secured to the gin pole, they can take a heavy load without buckling.

According to the pro-visions of the patent statntes, we have explained the principle and con- ,struction of our invention andhave illustrated and described What we now consider to rep-resent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as speoificallyillustrated and described.

We claim:

' 1. A mast structure comprising a base, an upright mast mounted thereon having substantially ;straight front and rear legs extending upwardly from .the base, means hinging the lower ends of the front legs to the base to permit the mast to .be swung downwardly into prone position along the ground, a gin pole mounted on the base to laid in swinging the mast between prone and up- ;right positions and having front and rear legs,

Number gether.

2. A mast structure comprising a base, an upright mast mounted thereon having substantially straight front and rear legs extending upwardly from the base, means hinging the lower ends of the front legs to the base to permit the mast to be swung downwardly into prone position along the ground, a gin polef mounted on the baseto aid in swinging the mast between prone and upright positions and having front and rear legs, the front legs of the gin pole being in the form of upright angle bars with a pair of their flanges substantially parallel to the rear face of the mast and with their other pair of flanges projecting forward between said rear mast legs in 'close proximity thereto, shoes mounted on the lower ends of the front gin pole legs and attached to said base, each shoe including a pair of forwardly projecting spaced side walls, the lower end of each rear leg of the mast projecting down between said side walls of a shoe, means extending through said side walls and rear mast legs for detachably connecting them together, and detachable means rigidlyconnecting said front gin pole legs to said lower portions of the mast legs at a plurality of vertically spaced points to reinforce said lower leg portions and holdthem straight.

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 446,744 Robinson Feb. 17, 1891 1,439,786 Battelle et al. Dec. 26, 1922 7 1,462,746 Gougler July 24, 1923 2,225,561 Henry Dec. 17, 1940 2,268,796 Brauer Jan. 6, 1942 2,271,578 Woolslayer et al. Feb. 3, 1942 2,332,479 Woolslayer et al. Oct. 19, 1943 2,403,080 Hilborn July 2, 1946 Woolslayer et al. July 12, 1949 

